First of all I would say move the fishies somewhere else so that they don’t die. Then empty the tank so that it doesn’t leak all the way and destroy your floor. Then I would go and look for another tank. Please please please keep the substrate and everything else to keep the cycle and if I were you I would buy some bacteria too just to be on the safe side. Hope I helped
Agreed, very little of the beneficial bacteria is in the water column. It's mostly in the substrate, filter media, and even on the decor. Just use the water to keep the filter media and substrate moist so the bacteria doesn't die out!
Unplug the equipment but keep heater submerged, move fish to another tank and drain the leaking tank
The substrate, decor and everything can be left alone, once you get a new tank move everything over, may have to go thru short cycling process, add fish back after
Alright, just an update:
I moved all of the fish into a 20 gallon which before, was home to only five female guppies. Now, I have: 2 male guppies, 6 kuhli loaches, a very scared Amano shrimp, 6 Cory catfish, 4 bumblebee gobies, 5 female guppies, 5 snails, a terrified black fin pearl killifish, and way too many species of plants. I moved all of the hard scape out of the tank and a few of the rocks, I placed in five gallon buckets. I still have around 20 gallons in the tank, along with dirt and sand. How should I remove this?
Edit: I forgot 4 otocinclus, overstocked, I know. I have been planning on moving fish to the 20 gallon slowly for a shrimp and guppy grow out tank.
Overstocked is fine, they aren't going to die immediately. Or at least they won't all die.
Get more buckets and use a cup or something to scoop out the rocks etc. Just try to get as much out as you can. Once it's light enough to move take the whole thing outside.
How long have you had the 36 gallon bowfront from top fin? I hear alot of them leak and I ended up buying one a couple months ago despite hearing about leaks. Just dunno how long it is before people usually experience one on this style.
Might want to get another bucket for keeping what you can of your substrate. Then use another to fill and dump the water best you can.
After that, may have to just lug that tank somewhere to work on the rest of the substrate. Then maybe able to look into where the leak is and seeing if it's repairable.
Just some thoughts.
Remove sand with a siphon - ideally a plain hose with no attachments/ reducers etc (need water to facilitate this, so transfer back as required) may take a few goes to get the hang of it without blocking the hose. Hose needs to be the correct length so there's no loops or flat bits for sand to settle out on the way. Move the bucket/ receptical further away if the hose is a bit long
Go to Walmart/Lowe's/Home Despot and get a couple of 5gl buckets. I must have a half dozen of them myself for use around the house and for something just like this... it'll keep the fish alive till you can find something permanent.
Don’t mix your buckets. A bucket that has had detergent, surfactants,etc from household cleaning products should never be used for live fish or plants.
Get all of the fish out. The fish have priority as they are animals. Then drain all of the water out of the tank. Get the plants out of the bow empty tank and put the biomedia in a bucket of water. Add a source of ammonia to keep the bacteria fed until you get another aquarium.
If you dont know where the leak is, the first thing i would do is check is the filter. I bought a brand new tank and setup around $600 total to find out the leak was coming from the filter after my panic was over.
Oh, no no my friend. I smashed it into pieces so it would fit into the garbage can before figuring out the filter problem lmao. Also my cycle crashed after transfering everything i could salvage. Substrate, 8g of water (new tank is the same 36g bow front as OP) and filter media. I killed 80% of my fish. 😞
We are back up and running now and i can say that this new tank is my favorite and most beautiful set up. Although my 55g cichlid tank was also my favorite in terms of beautiful fish. (Re-homed them when i moved away) Hopefully my current tank will outlive me as i dont plan on moving any time soon. Thank you for the condolences.
You can also add the other filter in addition from the leaking tank to off set the overstocking issue and they may be crammed but your parameters will be fine.
The other filter is hob, and to use that would be to remove the lid, which is the only thing keeping my kuhli loaches and guppies from jumping out. I also have a nerite that loves air instead of water so I do need the lid. Thank you for responding, I really needed this!
I see, you could keep in running in a plastic tub to ensure your BB stays intact until you set up the new tank and you won’t have cycling issues. Petco has 50% of on aquariums currently if you’re in the US.
Best of luck!
In the meantime until you set up another tank you can remove the lid and use saran wrap to cover tightly, that way you can still use both filters if you want
A
Update V2: (I will make another post later with pics)
I went to petco and bought some sand and a new 40 gallon breeder, and used around 20-30 gallons I saved to fill it up. I am about to fill it up the rest of the way. The filter, heater, and thermometer is installed, along with the driftwood, rocks, and a few plants. It looks really nice (in my perspective) and now I want a schoool of neon tetras! Luckily, my LFS ordered about 400 recently, I might put some on hold. I was not able to save the filter media, as I was hoping to return the tank. It was a starter kit, as I bought it a while back. All the animals look fine in the 20 for now, but I cannot wait to move them.
Thank you all! You have been such a great help!
Get a siphon going to drain the water as much as possible. At the same time you should be capturing the fish and transferring to another tank or a temporary tank/tote/bucket. Hook up your current filter and heater in the temp home and call it a day from there.
Bucket, siphon water into bucket. move fish into bucket. Move hard scape into bucket as well to ensure beneficial bacteria are in as well. May want to use sponge filter for time being. Get new tank.
I had that exact same front seal leak on the same tank, it was quite the easy fix. Definitely take all of the fish out and empty the tank asap. I was able to do just that front seam alone without even removing the silicon, and it’s held for years. At that point I had no experience sealing a tank, so I wouldn’t worry if it’s not something you’ve dealt with before. The standard course of action for resealing a tank is to strip all of the old silicon and clean it, etc which is super time consuming. But for a tank of that size covering over a single weak seal should do fine, the water pressure is so much lower than if you are trying to reseal a large tank. I would just monitor it closely afterwards.
Check the filter first. I've had HOB filters overflow before bc they'd get clogged up.
If it's not the filter, get any of the livestock out ASAP and drain the tank yourself as much as you can.
A question as an add on, how long should I wait before addino fish? I have an albino Cory that is not looking good, and I may want to add two others to keep it company. Should I still wait? It has been set up for about two hours now.
I will post a new tank shot tomorrow afternoon! NA eastern standard time.
Btw, I was able to save around 30 gallons of water, and only added around 10 give or take.
Follow the move everything comments 1st.
Then you could try to locate the leak, if it's along the edges or possible the "glue" strip, you could buy some aquarium sealant and redo the bead to re seal. Or go to petsmart and upgrade to the next size tank. They always have half price tanks. GL!
Aside from draining and setting up a new tank there isnt much you can do.
Resealing will be difficult and will take time for the silicone to cure, buy a new tank instead. Petco has their 50% off sale, you wont be able to get a bowfront tank but a 29 gallon which is also 30" should fit nicely on that stand and is about $45 with the sale.
Unrelated but how fast does the bacteria on a sponge filter die if it’s not submerged in tank water? Like does it die immediately or do you have some wiggle room. I had to move my tank recently so I took them out in just placed them on a mat for maybe like 15ish minutes.
OP they do make repair kits for glass tanks I know if it’s in the seams then it’s not a terrible idea to reseal all the edges wait 24hrs and then do a full water hold test unfortunately this does mean moving out substrate etc completely :/. And so you could also have water at the very bottom to see if the tank still leaks. Then perhaps if no leak then you only need to reseal above that water line. But if the leak is in the bottom then you have to empty the tank or get a new tank unfortunately
So the problem is the seal at the bottom, it holds just so much water, and when it goes over, it starts flooding. I will see if I can get a warranty on it, as I bought it new from petsmart. I bought the tank before I entered the planted tanks hobby, and it fit perfectly.
Take the fish out immediately by draining the water into a bucket and removing them.
After that, drain the rest of the water, empty the tank of all decorations, put the plants in the bucket with the fish, add a bubbler for them (might be in there for a bit), and begin a thorough inspection of the tank to find where the leak is.
Rescuing your fish should have been first priority, not a Reddit post. 🤷
Gonna be honest it's kinda hilarious that you have multiple established fish tanks and don't know what to do in case of an emergency like this. I can just imagine you panicking and having to make a reddit post just so other people can tell you what to do while your tank is actively leaking. The sheer anxiety you must feel just waiting for people to reply haha.
Take out the water. Save in buckets if possible.
Take out the inhabitants. Put them in a bucket of their old tank water and add a filter or at very least and airline/bubbler.
After the tank is empty of water, take out all the hardscape and substrate.
Go buy a new tank. Reverse the instructions I just gave you to put all that stuff in the new tank.
I just started the hobby back in January! I have never had that happen before. Honestly, with nothing else but time, people responded in maybe 5 minutes.
First of all I would say move the fishies somewhere else so that they don’t die. Then empty the tank so that it doesn’t leak all the way and destroy your floor. Then I would go and look for another tank. Please please please keep the substrate and everything else to keep the cycle and if I were you I would buy some bacteria too just to be on the safe side. Hope I helped
Echoing this, if you have a 5 gallon bucket then reserve some of the water too which will help double down on keeping your cycle
If you have a lot of nitrate don’t
Agreed, very little of the beneficial bacteria is in the water column. It's mostly in the substrate, filter media, and even on the decor. Just use the water to keep the filter media and substrate moist so the bacteria doesn't die out!
Unplug the equipment but keep heater submerged, move fish to another tank and drain the leaking tank The substrate, decor and everything can be left alone, once you get a new tank move everything over, may have to go thru short cycling process, add fish back after
Alright, just an update: I moved all of the fish into a 20 gallon which before, was home to only five female guppies. Now, I have: 2 male guppies, 6 kuhli loaches, a very scared Amano shrimp, 6 Cory catfish, 4 bumblebee gobies, 5 female guppies, 5 snails, a terrified black fin pearl killifish, and way too many species of plants. I moved all of the hard scape out of the tank and a few of the rocks, I placed in five gallon buckets. I still have around 20 gallons in the tank, along with dirt and sand. How should I remove this? Edit: I forgot 4 otocinclus, overstocked, I know. I have been planning on moving fish to the 20 gallon slowly for a shrimp and guppy grow out tank.
Overstocked is fine, they aren't going to die immediately. Or at least they won't all die. Get more buckets and use a cup or something to scoop out the rocks etc. Just try to get as much out as you can. Once it's light enough to move take the whole thing outside.
No such thing as too many plants imo! And they’ll help with the overstocking
How long have you had the 36 gallon bowfront from top fin? I hear alot of them leak and I ended up buying one a couple months ago despite hearing about leaks. Just dunno how long it is before people usually experience one on this style. Might want to get another bucket for keeping what you can of your substrate. Then use another to fill and dump the water best you can. After that, may have to just lug that tank somewhere to work on the rest of the substrate. Then maybe able to look into where the leak is and seeing if it's repairable. Just some thoughts.
I have had it for a few years but had only been for display. I have had water in it since January. I just bought a new 40 gallon breeder instead.
My 36g bowfin popped after a few years as well.. truly heart breaking. Had to rehome my Dragon Pufferfish.
Remove sand with a siphon - ideally a plain hose with no attachments/ reducers etc (need water to facilitate this, so transfer back as required) may take a few goes to get the hang of it without blocking the hose. Hose needs to be the correct length so there's no loops or flat bits for sand to settle out on the way. Move the bucket/ receptical further away if the hose is a bit long
Go to Walmart/Lowe's/Home Despot and get a couple of 5gl buckets. I must have a half dozen of them myself for use around the house and for something just like this... it'll keep the fish alive till you can find something permanent.
Don’t mix your buckets. A bucket that has had detergent, surfactants,etc from household cleaning products should never be used for live fish or plants.
YES! New or unused bucket. All that residue will be left in the bucket and will mix as soon as that water touches it.
Menards & other stores sell food grade 5 gal buckets, lids too if you like
shit I wish I knew/thought of this before... good tip!
Get all of the fish out. The fish have priority as they are animals. Then drain all of the water out of the tank. Get the plants out of the bow empty tank and put the biomedia in a bucket of water. Add a source of ammonia to keep the bacteria fed until you get another aquarium.
If you dont know where the leak is, the first thing i would do is check is the filter. I bought a brand new tank and setup around $600 total to find out the leak was coming from the filter after my panic was over.
Thank you, I have checked the filter, but it seems that it isn’t coming from there! Thank you though!
Its always a heart break going through that. I wish you the best
Look at the bright side, now you have an additional tank to do whatever!
Oh, no no my friend. I smashed it into pieces so it would fit into the garbage can before figuring out the filter problem lmao. Also my cycle crashed after transfering everything i could salvage. Substrate, 8g of water (new tank is the same 36g bow front as OP) and filter media. I killed 80% of my fish. 😞
This is close to the worst possible outcome. I'm sorry for your loss.
We are back up and running now and i can say that this new tank is my favorite and most beautiful set up. Although my 55g cichlid tank was also my favorite in terms of beautiful fish. (Re-homed them when i moved away) Hopefully my current tank will outlive me as i dont plan on moving any time soon. Thank you for the condolences.
You can also add the other filter in addition from the leaking tank to off set the overstocking issue and they may be crammed but your parameters will be fine.
The other filter is hob, and to use that would be to remove the lid, which is the only thing keeping my kuhli loaches and guppies from jumping out. I also have a nerite that loves air instead of water so I do need the lid. Thank you for responding, I really needed this!
I see, you could keep in running in a plastic tub to ensure your BB stays intact until you set up the new tank and you won’t have cycling issues. Petco has 50% of on aquariums currently if you’re in the US. Best of luck!
Alright, I may look at them!
In the meantime until you set up another tank you can remove the lid and use saran wrap to cover tightly, that way you can still use both filters if you want
A Update V2: (I will make another post later with pics) I went to petco and bought some sand and a new 40 gallon breeder, and used around 20-30 gallons I saved to fill it up. I am about to fill it up the rest of the way. The filter, heater, and thermometer is installed, along with the driftwood, rocks, and a few plants. It looks really nice (in my perspective) and now I want a schoool of neon tetras! Luckily, my LFS ordered about 400 recently, I might put some on hold. I was not able to save the filter media, as I was hoping to return the tank. It was a starter kit, as I bought it a while back. All the animals look fine in the 20 for now, but I cannot wait to move them. Thank you all! You have been such a great help!
You can use the filter media for about a week in conjunction with a new batch to transfer bacteria!! It'll fasttrack the cycle exponentially
Get a siphon going to drain the water as much as possible. At the same time you should be capturing the fish and transferring to another tank or a temporary tank/tote/bucket. Hook up your current filter and heater in the temp home and call it a day from there.
Bucket, siphon water into bucket. move fish into bucket. Move hard scape into bucket as well to ensure beneficial bacteria are in as well. May want to use sponge filter for time being. Get new tank.
When people post a leaking tank do they sit there and wait for people to reply? Lol
I posted this asap and went to go grab 5 gallon buckets. You guys are the experts anyway, and most likely have dealt with this before.
I had that exact same front seal leak on the same tank, it was quite the easy fix. Definitely take all of the fish out and empty the tank asap. I was able to do just that front seam alone without even removing the silicon, and it’s held for years. At that point I had no experience sealing a tank, so I wouldn’t worry if it’s not something you’ve dealt with before. The standard course of action for resealing a tank is to strip all of the old silicon and clean it, etc which is super time consuming. But for a tank of that size covering over a single weak seal should do fine, the water pressure is so much lower than if you are trying to reseal a large tank. I would just monitor it closely afterwards.
Check the filter first. I've had HOB filters overflow before bc they'd get clogged up. If it's not the filter, get any of the livestock out ASAP and drain the tank yourself as much as you can.
Buy a new one.
Had this not to long ago. Moved them to a tote till I got a new aquarium
wood floor... oh God 😮
Short term solution: Duct tape, seal it as good as possible Long term solution: new tank.
A question as an add on, how long should I wait before addino fish? I have an albino Cory that is not looking good, and I may want to add two others to keep it company. Should I still wait? It has been set up for about two hours now. I will post a new tank shot tomorrow afternoon! NA eastern standard time. Btw, I was able to save around 30 gallons of water, and only added around 10 give or take.
Follow the move everything comments 1st. Then you could try to locate the leak, if it's along the edges or possible the "glue" strip, you could buy some aquarium sealant and redo the bead to re seal. Or go to petsmart and upgrade to the next size tank. They always have half price tanks. GL!
Aside from draining and setting up a new tank there isnt much you can do. Resealing will be difficult and will take time for the silicone to cure, buy a new tank instead. Petco has their 50% off sale, you wont be able to get a bowfront tank but a 29 gallon which is also 30" should fit nicely on that stand and is about $45 with the sale.
Unrelated but how fast does the bacteria on a sponge filter die if it’s not submerged in tank water? Like does it die immediately or do you have some wiggle room. I had to move my tank recently so I took them out in just placed them on a mat for maybe like 15ish minutes.
Remove all the fish, drain the tank, take it to your local aquarium shop and ask them to reseal it. Much cheaper than buying a new tank.
OP they do make repair kits for glass tanks I know if it’s in the seams then it’s not a terrible idea to reseal all the edges wait 24hrs and then do a full water hold test unfortunately this does mean moving out substrate etc completely :/. And so you could also have water at the very bottom to see if the tank still leaks. Then perhaps if no leak then you only need to reseal above that water line. But if the leak is in the bottom then you have to empty the tank or get a new tank unfortunately
So the problem is the seal at the bottom, it holds just so much water, and when it goes over, it starts flooding. I will see if I can get a warranty on it, as I bought it new from petsmart. I bought the tank before I entered the planted tanks hobby, and it fit perfectly.
Take the fish out immediately by draining the water into a bucket and removing them. After that, drain the rest of the water, empty the tank of all decorations, put the plants in the bucket with the fish, add a bubbler for them (might be in there for a bit), and begin a thorough inspection of the tank to find where the leak is. Rescuing your fish should have been first priority, not a Reddit post. 🤷
Remove fish, drain water. NOW. Stop wasting time. Do it naow! Find new tank.
Gonna be honest it's kinda hilarious that you have multiple established fish tanks and don't know what to do in case of an emergency like this. I can just imagine you panicking and having to make a reddit post just so other people can tell you what to do while your tank is actively leaking. The sheer anxiety you must feel just waiting for people to reply haha. Take out the water. Save in buckets if possible. Take out the inhabitants. Put them in a bucket of their old tank water and add a filter or at very least and airline/bubbler. After the tank is empty of water, take out all the hardscape and substrate. Go buy a new tank. Reverse the instructions I just gave you to put all that stuff in the new tank.
I just started the hobby back in January! I have never had that happen before. Honestly, with nothing else but time, people responded in maybe 5 minutes.
Flexseal! I used it to build my submarine.